My Three Darlings

Chapter 35

The topic of “Madeleine Robinson Destroys Seductress” continued to gain a lot of attention and soon ranked second on the trending list. Staff members excitedly projected the trending list onto a large screen in Jay’s studio. At the sight of her name projected on the big screen, Madeleine gripped Jay’s hand tightly. “Jay, it won’t be long before I reach first place on the trending list.” When that happens, she will get a lot of publicity all over the Internet, and she will be able to gain popularity and be as famous as Roseane. Roseane had achieved fame back then with a similar trending topic of taking out the person who had set foot in her relationship. If that could push Roseane to such fame, then this would definitely work for her too! “Based on the hype we are receiving, Miss Robinson will be at the top of the trending list in less than five minutes.”

Beside them, Jay’s manager, Jayda, whipped out a camera excitedly. “I have to record this historical moment!”

Madeleine and Jay had already taken their positions in front of the big screen, ready to have a photo taken with the post when it reaches the top of the trending list. Everyone waited excitedly for the trending topic to rise to the top. When their post was only two figures away from the top of the trending list, Jayda excitedly pressed the shutter. Her face fell when she took a look at the photo she had taken. “Madeleine Robinson Destroys Seductress” was still the second topic on the trending list! Out of nowhere, the first topic on the trending list became “Storewide Discount: 30% Sale at Matthew Jewellery”.

Jay rolled his eyes and said, “Matthew Valentine is messing things up!” “Of all times to promote their discount, he has to do it now?” Madeleine pursed her lips and made a call again. “Bump my post ahead of Matthew Jewellery’s trending post.” The person on the other end of the line seemed hesitant. “Miss Robinson, from what I understand, Matthew Jewellery spent 800,000 dollars to plant that post at the top of the trending list. If you want to surpass that…” “I believe you’ll have to pay me at least an additional 500,000 dollars.” Madeleine was astonished. She had no idea that Matthew Valentine was willing to

spend so lavishly on an advertisement. However, she was but a person of little consequence whom nobody would pay any attention to.

Had the recent news of her taking out a seductress not been such a hot topic for discussion, she would never have gone viral, much less be anywhere near the trending list. She wasn’t ready to give up so soon!

However, she had exhausted all her savings. So, she took a deep breath and turned to look at Jay, who was standing behind her. “Jay…” After a long moment of silence, Jay finally let out a long breath. “500,000 dollars? I’ll pay for it!” “Uncle Beau, Madeleine’s post is trending again.” In an office on the highest floor of Valentine’s Group, Matthew looked at his phone with a frown and said, “I think we should just raise the number of views to a ridiculously high value. She’ll back off when she knows that she doesn’t stand a chance.”

“That will save us the trouble of having to toy with her.”

Beau sat behind his desk and took a sip of his coffee gracefully. “We have to bait her with some hopes of success.”

“How else would your cousins make money?” Matthew was amazed. “So what topic are we sending to the top of the trending list next?” Beau slowly lifted his eyes and looked at Matthew. “How about “Matthew Valentine Comes Out as Gay”? How does that sound?” 1

“Excuse me?!” Matthew leaped out of his seat and said, “I’m straight, thank you very much!” “Well, since you’re straight, you better come up with the next topic within 10 minutes. Or it’ll be about you coming out.” Matthew had no choice but to comply.

Twenty minutes later, as Madeleine and Jay waited elatedly for their post to reach the top of the trending list, it was once again surpassed by a new topic. The new topic was about a popular on-screen couple who had just announced that they were dating. Within 10 minutes of their announcement, the coupleText property © Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org.

instantly took over first place on the trending list. Madeleine gritted her teeth. She felt a headache coming on. “Is the whole world up against me today?!” She was so close to reaching the top of the trending list! She refused to be defeated! She was just a step away. A step away from gaining immense popularity! Thus, she made another call. This time, the person asked for yet another million. Madeleine nearly dropped her phone. “That’s daylight robbery!” e The person on the other end of the line chuckled. “Miss Robinson, you have to understand that both the celebrities trending right now are way more popular than you are. Their fan bases are huge!” Madeleine was so angry that she was shaking from head to toe. She had two options as things stand. The first option was to dump in a million dollars and end things once and for all, pushing her way to the top of the trending list. The other option was simply to admit defeat. That would not only mean that she would not receive the great publicity she yearned for, but the 800,000 dollars she had paid for would also have gone to waste. She had only one point of consideration. Madeleine clenched her jaws. “Can you lower the price a little?” “No.” But she really didn’t have that much money. A moment later, she raised her head and looked at Jay with teary eyes. “Jay…” Jay could not bear to see her cry. So, after some hesitation, he finally released a long breath. “I have a million dollars of savings

left.”

And with that, a million dollars was credited into Demarion’s bank account. 2 “They hesitated for quite some time there. I guess they’re running out of funds. It’s time.” With a yawn, Braint used the account “Moon Among the Stars” to write up one final post and scheduled the time to publish it. After turning off the computer, he gave Eliza a call. “Mommy, did you buy me the starfruits / wanted?” Wandering around the market, Eliza replied, “I haven’t got them yet.”

She had received a phone call from Braint just as she left the hospital after completing the injury assessment. He had asked for starfruits. So she rushed to the market to buy them. But upon arrival, she was told that all the starfruits in the market had been sold out. She went to a second market and got the same answer. She refused to give up yet, so she went to a third market, and then a fourth… It was now

her sixth destination. “It’s alright if you can’t find any!” A rare trace of humor was evident in his voice. “Just get me two oranges then.” Eliza paused. “Two oranges?” “Yes, I don’t feel like having starfruit anymore.” D Eliza hung up the phone gloomily. After getting the oranges, she decided to give it one last try, so she took a taxi to a seventh market. Preoccupied with buying fruits for her son, she had no idea that the Internet had been turned upside down. The topic “Madeleine Robinson Destroys Seductress” was constantly at second place on the trending list. However, it turns out that Madeleine’s name did indeed reach the top of the list. The trending topic of the day was “Madeleine’s Recorded Conversation”. The number of views of the post was six or seven times that of the second place. Its content was the recorded conversation she had with Eliza. While Eliza’s voice had been masked over, Madeleine’s voice wasn’t. “Back then, you self-righteously drove away a wealthy tycoon who had the intention of making me his mistress. You gave me 500 dollars and told me to carry myself with dignity and to live a

good life in the future.” “I was also the one who trapped you in the lounge last night.” “I just felt like messing with you recently. Do you have a problem with that?” Every word she said was loud and clear for everyone to hear. As soon as the recording was released, all those who had supported Madeleine immediately regretted their actions. Madeleine was not a strong independent lady who was out to defend her relationship. Instead, she was nothing but a scheming wench! She faced immense backlash online. In Jay’s studio, however, there was pin-drop silence. Jay’s manager, Jayda, crossed her legs and sneered. “So, this is the trending post you spent 1,300,000 dollars for?” “Sitewide publicity of voice recording of Madeleine Robinson framing a stunt woman. Guess you got the fame you wished for.” Madeleine’s face was ashen as she sat down and lowered her head. “Jayda, what should we do now?” “What should we do?” Jayda’s expression darkened. “Your reputation is ruined now. We can’t have Jay implicated.” “You need to break up. This very instant!”